It has always seemed to me that what Buddha did, in establishing the first Order of monks and nuns in India, was revolutionary. But we have to be circumspect in asserting such assumptions, as the cultural and political context of the time was so different from ours. What may appear on the surface to have been a counter-cultural departure from norms of the day, may not have been. That is, the Buddhist Sangha may have been only one of many such experiments in alternate lifestyles. In America today, proposing that we all move into the forest, where we spend long hours in meditation, pausing only to go begging through residential neighborhoods for our meals, would not only be considered radical; it would probably land us all in jail.

To make such a public display of our practice path today would invite pushback, in an era of confrontational identity politics, and special-interest movements. This is why Zen is, in my estimation—revolutionary; yes—but it is the quiet revolution.

ZEN IS NOT A CULTZen meditation (J. zazen) itself looks non-threatening, from the outside. The only thing we claim it threatens is the ego, or constructed self. It seems an innocuous exercise in self-improvement, with its emphasis on silent illumination. Socially, Zen communities present as well-intentioned groups of like-minded people, at most a harmless cult. But those who get inside a Zen center come to see that it is the opposite of a cult, in that we strive to train every individual to lead, or at least to define their relationship to the group in a proactive, creative, collaborative way.

But we should not underestimate the power of Zen. Including its effect on our personal lives, of course, but also the ripple-effect on our larger community. There is something radical about sitting stock-still for extended periods of time, doing nothing in particular; not even thinking. That we embrace the process of change that emerges, to be a form of intentional personality disintegration, would be alarming to many, especially those in the mental health industry. Better to take a pill to calm down, than to risk going out of your mind.

ZEN IS COUNTER-CULTURALThat substantial groups would flock together from time to time, to spend whole days, even weeks or months, engaged in purposeless activity, should be even more disconcerting to the overseers of a society that values productivity above all, other than profit. Which terms are virtually synonymous, in a capitalist milieu. But the main social or political issue with Zen practice, fully understood, is that it leads to true independence. Not only of thinking, but even of motive. Whatever their protestations to the contrary, the powers that be would not welcome true independence on the part of the hoi polloi.

Matsuoka Roshi would often entwine his middle and fore-fingers, raising them aloft and declaring, “Mind and body are just one; they cannot be separated.” This is not an example of belaboring the obvious, or debating the Cartesian separation of spirit and body, one of the primary memes of Western culture. It is a concise way of explaining why Zen emphasizes the physical, rather than the mental, in its meditation, zazen.

The question often arises, Why do we not emphasize mental practices, such as meditating upon compassion, for example? Thich Nhat Hahn has done so, in his writings for Western students; and the Buddha himself is said to have conveyed such messages, notably in the “Metta Sutta,” or “Loving Kindness Sutra,” with its refrain, “May all beings be happy.”

Virtues are InnateThe first principle, I suggest, is that human beings are already innately compassionate, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary that we witness in the public sphere; as well as in our own behavior, or inner feelings, toward others. The reasons this innate compassion does not always come to the fore, are all the usual suspects—the underpinning traits of self-centered striving and personal clinging—that Buddha analyzed as the main source of Dukkha, suffering, in this life.

Secondly, while it may be necessary to teach others such values as generosity, the first of the Buddhist perfections (S. paramita); or the practice of compassion; any such teaching is limited to what can be expressed in language, and therefore necessarily conceptual, not actual. The pedagogical theory amounts to hoping that—by going through the motions, and focusing conscious attention on the concept—true compassion, or generosity, or patience, et cetera, will one day arise.

Personal versus Social PracticeThere is nothing wrong with this approach, but it is limited, or one-sided. We should take care to divide Buddhist teachings and practices into two parallel tracks—the personal versus the social—for the sake of clarity, and not to confuse the one with the other. Particularly when it comes to the attitude we adopt in zazen.

On one level, our Zen practice is intensely personal. On another, it is social in its application and import. It is not for naught that Soto Zen stresses the personal practice of zazen over all other methods, including such techniques as koan practice, meditating upon an illogical riddle, of the Rinzai sect; and the various mental preoccupations taught in more traditional forms of meditation, such as Vipassana. I am not trained in either of these methods, so my comments should not be taken as a critique. I am only pointing out the difference in Zen meditation, as I understand it.

]]>Dharma BytesTue, 09 Apr 2019 09:10:52 -0400What is the Meaning of Homelessness in Zen? - Mar 2019 DBhttp://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/483-what-is-the-meaning-of-homelessness-in-zen-mar-2019-db
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/483-what-is-the-meaning-of-homelessness-in-zen-mar-2019-dbHomelessness in America is now the “lifestyle” of over half a million people; in Atlanta alone it affects seven thousand. I know homeless people; and have had some in my own family. This article, however, is not about my personal issues, but about the meaning of homelessness in Zen Buddhism. The teachings of Buddhism are not to be used as criticisms of others, but as a mirror reflected back on the self. So we are not interested in blaming others for unsatisfactory and unjustifiable conditions in our society. As a designer by training, however, I am interested in looking for solutions. And many other people appear to be engaged, as well. But please believe me, this is not a plea, nor even a suggestion, that you should be engaging in so-called “good works” as part of your Zen practice. Not my call.

To speak of leaving home (J. shukke) in Zen is not to rationalize that those who are suffering exposure to weather, and other deprivations associated with living without shelter, are somehow okay; that they are like the mendicants and hermits of old. How each person we see on the streets and alleyways of our cities, and, increasingly, in rural areas and small towns, has come to this situation is likely a unique story. There are many commonalities, of course, having to do with “poor choices,” as the critics like to point out; including involvement in addiction, and other maladies. But these stereotypes, while carrying a grain of truth, do not necessarily point to a solution. “Just say no” is not a viable option, in many cases.

Some sobering statistics from around the world suggest that the problem is not an American one, and that “throwing money at it” may not be the best approach, at least as long as the use of that money is in the hands of politicians and their agents, however well- intentioned. East Germany has been the beneficiary of largesse from West Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall, but has remained essentially flat, in terms of overall financial recovery. So where does the problem begin?

In Zen, it is a standard to say that it begins at home, with the individual. But this is not the same argument of the “haves”: that the “-nots” are responsible. And it does not lobby for the opposite, that the haves are to blame. But it does suggest that for there to be the homeless, there have to be those who are not. And that no one is really not part of the equation, if not part of the problem.

]]>Dharma BytesWed, 20 Mar 2019 07:53:14 -0400What is the Point of Training in Zen? February 2019http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/482-february-2019-dharma-byte
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/482-february-2019-dharma-byteFirst let’s challenge the idea that we are, actually, doing the same thing again and again, when we meditate.

This question comes up often amongst practitioners of Zen. Even those who have been training in zazen for years will sometimes seem to “plateau,” interpreting their experience as flattening out, hitting a wall, etc. And for newcomers, this is often the most persistent, nagging concern, when they do not see immediate results. It is easy to say, “just sit,” in the face of this and all other discouragement that arises, but it is also too facile. We want to encourage raising this point again and again.

Our new Thursday evening program at ASZC, “ZENtalk,” is focused on this question. We interview various folks at different stages of training in Zen, from the rank newcomer to old-timers, as well as the occasional guest who may have no experience at all with Zen, but may be pursuing another, related path of interest. The “show” is featured online on our Facebook page and archive on our YouTube channel, as well as streamed live on Mixlr.

We feel it is increasingly important, at this time and in this cultural milieu, to allow the general audience interested in Zen to hear from people from all walks of life, and diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, profession, etcetera, as to why they practice its strict form of meditation, zazen. Zen is mainstreaming in America, but it is still not understood, let alone practiced, by anywhere near a majority of our fellow citizens. Without first-person testimony as to the uniqueness of Zen’s stripped-down design for upright, “quiet illumination” meditation, it is likely to be lost in the smorgasbord of popular meditations currently on offer in the public realm.

Bill Murray, mentioned in last month’s Dharma Byte in relation to his performance in “Scrooged,” also starred in an iconic film that seems to be in constant rerun status on TV, “Groundhog Day.” He wakes up, day after day, to the same day — marked by the iconic, but irritating, “I Got You Babe” by Sonny Bono — on his radio alarm. But he is the only one who is aware of this anomaly in the ordinary passage of time. As a consequence, he becomes liberated from his obsessive approach to doing what he is supposed to be doing — namely reporting on Punxutawney Phil, the groundhog, an assignment he feels is beneath his dignity — and finds that he has the time to do the many, more meaningful things he always wanted to do, including play jazz piano, and mastering ice sculpture. He also finds the time to fall in love with, and to woo, and win, the love of his life.

]]>Dharma BytesWed, 06 Mar 2019 14:24:48 -0500Dreaming of a Bright Future - Dharma Byte January 2019http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/481-dreaming-of-a-bright-future-dharma-byte-january-2019
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/481-dreaming-of-a-bright-future-dharma-byte-january-2019“So, to dream of a bright future does not mean turning away from the dismal present. It is where we are, where we sleep, live and die, and where we are to do the work. I hope that your practice of Zen will help you in this regard.

At year’s end it is tempting to fall into the clichés of reviewing transition points of the past year, and projecting hopeful visions of the coming year. It is also traditional to accentuate the positive, in assessing events in the context of a progressive model of history. But I would beg your indulgence to take a different tack, one that directs our attention to our personal practice, in the midst of our social milieu.

After the Rohatsu retreat in December, and remembering the basic teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha around those events, I feel it important to go to a dimension explored in the story of the Buddha, as well as others in the lineage, and which should be an aspect of our Zen practice. We might call it the Twilight Zone of Zen. Or a perhaps less contemporary analogy, Through the Looking Glass.

This will take us on a bit of a deep dive on the dark side. In Buddhism, the “Six Realms” include the upper realms of Tusita heaven; the Asuras, Titans, or angry gods; the realm of human beings; and the lower realms of animals and insects; hungry ghosts; and the denizens of Avici hell, unrelenting suffering. Hells, as well as heavens, are regarded as self-created, in Buddhism. Reality is neutral.

It is natural that we would prefer to look at the bright side, when approaching Zen practice in the context of the chaotic culture of modern times. But “In the light there is darkness, but do not take it as darkness; in the dark there is light, but do not see it as light” according to our Chinese Ancestors. We don’t find the bright side by ignoring the dark side. Instead, we are encouraged to confront our demons.

This premise is not exclusively Buddhist, of course. Each year during the holiday season we are treated to Christian-oriented homilies ranging from archival film of the original “Scrooge” by Charles Dickens to the more contemporary “Scrooged,” starring the inimitable Bill Murray. There is something comforting about these tragedies-turned-comedies-turned-epiphanies, as they all predictably achieve resolution, in the span of an hour-and-a-half, of some of the most stubborn and recalcitrant anxieties and fears we all feel. Would that real life were so simple.

In the earlier black-and-white film, the ghost of Jacob Marley asks Scrooge, "Why do you doubt your senses?" Scrooge scoffs that "...a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheat. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more gravy than grave about you, whatever you are!" (Wikipedia)

Which bravado on Scrooge’s part is immediately demolished by Marley’s knee-buckling scream. While this exchange may represent a contemporaneous interpretation of dreams—or more specifically, nightmares—it also reflects our entirely human tendency to explain the unexplainable in sensible, physical terms. To “explain away” an otherwise unacceptable, frightening reality, a tendency that may explain the underlying motive, and provenance, of all religious belief.

]]>Dharma BytesWed, 02 Jan 2019 15:41:17 -0500Buddha’s Enlightenment: Just the Facts, Ma’am - Dharma Byte December 2108http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/480-buddha-s-enlightenment-just-the-facts-m-am-dharma-byte-december-2108
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/480-buddha-s-enlightenment-just-the-facts-m-am-dharma-byte-december-2108"What Buddha was before his insight was the same as what he was afterward, of course. But everything had fundamentally changed, not only in his apperception of it, but curcially, in his actions based upon his new identity."

Who, where, what, when, and why we are; and how we can live with not knowing.

Siddhartha Gautama sat down one day under the Bodhi tree some 2500 years ago and counting. He was at the end of his rope, and in humility, admitting that with all his vaunted intellect and training (not to mention inborn talent or reputed prior lifetimes of awakening), he did not really know what he really needed to know. He is said to have resolved to solve the problem of suffering in life, or to die trying.

Fortunately, he did not die in the physical sense, but instead “died on the cushion.” He survived the experience, and went on to teach others his approach to meditation. We are all beneficiaries of his compassion in doing so. It was not for himself that he shared his insight with others, but for their sake, instead. His was the first Bodhisattva vow.

Now we are facing not the same, but a situation similar, to what he did. Plus, of course, all the appurtenances of modernity that have accrued in the two-and-a-half millennia since. We should not be confused, however, that the basic rules of the sentient existence game have changed. Aging, sickness and death still trump whatever advances in the hard and soft sciences we may enjoy today.

That we all share in common this inevitable transition (Buddhism does not consider it an “end”) would, one would think, foster a compassionate embrace of all life, as being of the self, rather than of the other. However, those who have not resolved their own situation with regards to suffering tend to take it out on others, as if it is someone’s fault. Thus, we witness endless, unnecessary suffering—inflicted by ourselves upon ourselves, as well as on others—in addition to the natural and unavoidable suffering of aging, sickness and death. This latter class of suffering should be understood in the sense of allowing, rather than unnecessary. We allow change to take place, as we have little choice in the matter.

When we approach this conundrum on the cushion, in meditation, we have an opportunity to regard it with some dispassion. Suffering really doesn’t matter so much, if it is universal. It would be truly unfair if only some of us were subject to the laws of biology, and others were able to opt out; owing to their advantages, for example, in controlling great wealth. To some extent this imbalance in global society is true, the evidence for which being the rampant, inhumane harvesting and oppression of sentient beings for food purposes; as well as oppressing other human beings for purposes of domination, or even genocide.

You have to wonder what kind of thoughts run through the minds of these flagrant despots—who have spent their whole lives, futilely subjugating others to their will—only to succumb, finally, to the ravages of age. It must be much like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum, when it does not get what it wants.

Any schadenfreude regarding the richly deserved comeuppance of others, if that is what we feel, will not last for long, however. We are all subject to the same rules and regulations as any other living creature. Inequality comes down to a question of “So what?” when we find ourselves at the end of our life’s journey. Even the popular meme of checking off our bucket list, to see if we have lived a “successful” life, begins to look a bit ridiculous in the context of what might have been—as opposed to what actually is—the ultimate meaning of our lives.

So, what to do? It occurred to me, that beyond Zen’s direct approach—of surrendering to this ultimate finality in our worldview, actualized in zazen—we might find a way to think about it dispassionately, by employing the so-called five W’s of traditional journalism. As explained on Wikipedia, the five consist of questions a reporter considers in filing a story:

• Who was involved?

• What happened?

• When did it take place?

• Why did that happen?

Some authors add a sixth question, how to the list:

• How did it happen?

Each question should have a factual answer — facts necessary to include for a report to be considered complete. Importantly, none of these questions can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no".

Note that last comment: none of these can be answered by a simple yes or no. This becomes more and more obvious when we consider these dimensions of the story from a Zen perspective: they take on a new and deeper meaning. Let’s consider them one at a time.

]]>Dharma BytesFri, 30 Nov 2018 14:36:17 -0500Founder's Month Celebration 2018http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/478-founder-s-month-celebration-2018
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/478-founder-s-month-celebration-2018For Founder’s month each year, we celebrate Matsuoka Roshi’s coming to America in 1939, which will see its 80th Anniversary in 2019. This year I would like to quote a brief passage from “The Purpose of a Zen Life,” which is a chapter in “The Kyosaku,” the collection of his early dharma talks from the 1960s and 1970s. Later talks are available in “Mokurai,” both of which are available through our website online. We encourage you to purchase one or both of these volumes, to hear the voice of this early and important pioneer of Zen in America. And to join us in discussing his teachings online in our CloudDharma sessions Tuesday evenings, as well as in your Affiliate Sangha’s reading groups.

THE PURPOSE OF A ZEN LIFE - from The KyosakuThe world abounds with different religions to satisfy man’s yearning spirit. Throughout time, man has yearned for something. For some, it has been the desire to be of good health, of good fame, to have a respected job, to become rich, to avoid mishap or trouble, to win the favor of the gods, or to enter into a “pure land” after death. There are a myriad of things one desires in their life and most religions try to satisfy this hunger.

Some promise success, heaven or a bountiful harvest if a person faithfully follows their precepts. Many religious people are dreaming of a supernatural power far away from themselves and of a fantastic world of good fortune when they pray and follow religious rites. Instead of living their lives more fully now, they dream fantasy and put their faith in something distant from themselves. Their lives are lived for another time or another being. Should this be the purpose of religion?

In Zen, the purpose of the religious life is to find the truth about life in this world and then to live with this knowledge. Instead of hoping to obtain some material thing or fortune from a supernatural being, in Zen we live in order to enter into the true life. We do not even desire to become a Buddha, for doing so takes the emphasis off the present moment of life and puts it into the unpredictable future. Instead, we live this moment to its fullest and so act as to develop the potential to be a Buddha which lies dormant in each of us.

The Buddha once said, “If you kill your wrong way of thinking, you will find the truth about life.” You ask: How can I rid myself of these errors? The key to this freedom was discovered centuries ago by the Buddha himself after long years of searching for the truth. He finally settled in a seated position under a tree in a garden and resolved not to rise until he had found the truth. Sitting in this position enabled him to find it. One morning, as the dawn broke, the Buddha became enlightened. He discovered the Buddha-nature within himself and the universe. His thinking no longer contained the errors that keep man in misery. Instead, his meditation had shown him the true life.

]]>Dharma BytesFri, 02 Nov 2018 11:55:13 -0400Zen in the Age of Uncertainty - Oct 2018 Dharma Bytehttp://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/477-zen-in-the-age-of-uncertainty-oct-2018-dharma-byte
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/477-zen-in-the-age-of-uncertainty-oct-2018-dharma-byteIn my manuscript for “The Original Frontier” I am currently editing (for hopefully the last time), I mention that Matsuoka Roshi referred to the times we were then living in as the “Age of Anxiety.” This is the title of a long-form poem published in 1948 by W. H. Auden, but I am not sure whether that was the inspiration for O-Sensei’s use of the term or not. While you might say that we have gone beyond the age of anxiety in some ways, the current vogue is to speak of uncertainty, which might be thought of as anxiety exacerbated by the many knowns, unknowns, and unknown unknowns—to borrow a phrase from a recent secretary of defense, who was himself a considerable source of uncertainty—afflicting us from all sides these days.

The question in Zen is, as usual: So what? So what do we do about it, and isn’t this the way it has always been?

Well, to some extent you would have to argue that no, this is not the way it has always been. In Buddha’s time, as well as Bodhidharma’s, Huineng’s, and Dogen’s, things had to be a little more dependable on a day-to-day basis. We did not have the 24/7 news cycle chronicling the daily disasters from around the globe, so that along with our own personal suffering, we share the suffering of others to the point of fatigue. We just want it to be over. This is close to the state of angst associated with suicidal tendencies.

What do we do about it may be the more germane and operative question. And the answer in Zen is, as usual: just sit.

But this can be taken as dismissive, uncaring, self-absorbed, and all manner of other pejoratives, in the face of the global calamity that is our daily diet. However, in Zen, it means that not only you, or we, just sit; but that everybody, including all the usual suspects and main perpetrators of the atrocities, also just sit. The theory is that most of the trouble comes from the fact that these folks are mistaken in their worldview, which leads them to pursue what they think they want and need in all the wrong places. If they just sat, in zazen, they might come to see this for themselves, and change their ways.

This was true in the history of Zen, for example in the case of Emperor Ashoka. A brief quote from Wikipedia will suffice to fill in the background in case you are unaware of this Indian figure:

Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha), which he conquered in about 260 BCE. In about 263 BCE, he converted to Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga Ware, which he had waged out of a desire for conquest and which reportedly directly resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations.

So the problem of immigration is not a recent development, though we tend to think of our times as unique. The exception proves the rule, as we say, and Ashoka may be the historical exception. So it may be considered wishful thinking to suggest that if the leaders waging war upon their peoples today would only convert to Buddhism, we would see world peace. And it is true that statistically, overall carnage is on the decline, if you believe the sources that claim to be able to measure such things.

]]>Dharma BytesSun, 30 Sep 2018 14:33:01 -0400Leaving Home - September 2018 Dharma Bytehttp://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/476-leaving-home-september-2018-dharma-byte
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/476-leaving-home-september-2018-dharma-byteThe monastic ideal of “leaving home” is repeatedly praised by Master Dogen in the ordination ceremony known, in Japanese, as “Shukke Tokudo” — which translates as something like “leaving home, sharing the dharma.” In lay practice, we do not literally leave home, of course, other than for the occasional extended retreat, or sesshin; but we interpret the meaning as deeply significant. Our true home turns out to be unrelated to geography, or any other relative circumstances of existence.

We might also question the reality of home-leaving in the life of monastics, as Master Dogen mentions regarding monks of his time (see Shobogenzo Zuimonki). He suggests that some cannot really relinquish their attachment to family, and all that it entails, for the sake of Zen — or “hearing the true Dharma” as he puts it in Dogen’s Vow (Eiheikosohotsuganmon).

Others, who are able to do so, are not able to let go of their attachment to their body and good health. They are not willing to put their life on the line, which is, after all, understandable — in this same poem he quotes Ch’an Master Lungya: “In this life save the body; it is the fruit of many lives” — but I take his point to be that the obsession with living the good life, at the expense of Zen practice, is ultimately doomed to failure. Aging, sickness and death, the three major marks of existence, according to Buddhism, cannot be avoided in the long run. And Zen takes the long view.

But the third and most difficult level of non-attachment that Dogen Zenji stresses, is to our own ideas and opinions. Even monks who can realize the first two levels have difficulty with this last, clinging to their erroneous worldview. The monk who can do so has the best chance of waking up during this lifetime.

]]>Dharma BytesSun, 02 Sep 2018 19:37:18 -0400ACTUALIZING THE FUNDAMENTAL POINT - August 2018 Dharma Bytehttp://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/475-hojo
http://storder.org/2016-06-01-02-26-21/dharma-bytes/475-hojoIn last month’s Dharma Byte, “Turning Points in Living the Zen Life,” I touched on a few of the time-of-life changes that we all go through from time to time, and the effect they may have on our practice, and vice-versa. One section, however, referred to turning points in zazen itself and that is where I want to pick up the thread this time.

The Most Important Thing in Buddhism

At one point more than halfway through Master Dogen’s tract titled “Fukanzazengi,” which means something like “Universal Promotion of Zazen” or “Principles of Seated Meditation,” he writes “Now that you know the most important thing in Buddhism, how can you be satisfied with the transient world?” It is difficult to know exactly which point he is referring to in the preceding sections of the long teaching, as he touches on so many aspects of Zen, as he is wont to do.

In the “Genjokoan” extract from “Bendowa,” which latter means something like “A Talk About the Way,” he lays out analogy after analogy about The Great Matter, and how to practice, at one point actually stating, “It is possible to illustrate this with more analogies. Practice-enlightenment and people are like this.” But what the “this” or the “most important thing” is that he is talking about is difficult to pin down. As Matsuoka Roshi would say, “Zen is something round and rolling, slippery and slick.”

It is tempting to throw words at this something, such as “zazen,” “enlightenment,” “study the self,” “compassion,” et cetera. But we find that nothing sticks, precisely because it is slippery and slick, receding ever more out of our reach when we try to pin it down. Also because language is designed to be definitive and dispositive, giving us answers rather than raising more questions.